I recently had a bipolar revelation grown from OCD roots. For years I have wanted to try and put together an anthology but never got enough interest but now that I have met my kindred spirits here, I dare think it possible. The idea for the anthology is simple enough, its based on madness. True psychological mental illness, no supernatural, no sparkly vamps, no wolves with 6-pack abs or ghosts with a hardon for vengeance. I want it to for all of take place in the world we live in at its scariest. True mental illness is frightening. Show me phobias and psychosis. Severe OCD or clausterphobia but the key is to make it unique in some way we haven't seen before. Your story can be satirical, sadistic or just plain creepy but it does have to have entertainment value. Im not putting together a textbook. The rarer the illness the better. See the movie Burning palms if you havent, its an anthology movie. The last story in particular is fucking insane. That movie illustrates some bizarre human behavior. Just no human centipede stories, im not going for gross out. The tentative deadline will be January 15th, 2012, 2500 words ideally unless your story is awesome. I can't promise payment yet, this could be great exposure for all of us. If we can't get it in print, it will be a kindle book but I promise to advertise the fuck out of it even if that means money out of my own pocket to do so. I know an amazing photographer who can do the cover. Let me know what you think. If any two mental illnesses match I will pick the better story. Also you can workshop the stories here in the forum so it will be a community process.
I have a story that would work, but it is 7000 words, and that reduced by constant revision and redrafting from 10,000. Ah well. This does sound very interesting and I think I will have to root through my idea notebooks for something that can fit.
Good luck, and I admire your ambition!
I'd be all over this, except:
My story will ideally be over 30k words, and
my story does have a ghost in it. Well, maybe. It's how you perceive it. Is it a real ghost, or a manifestation of the horrors that haunt my main character? You know, that sort of thing.
Though I could probably cut it down to 3,000 words. Most of the middle junk doesn't need to be there, I guess.
Anyway, this sounds like an awesome idea.
30k is a novella, not a story. You should try to get it published as its own book. Horror novellas are very common in the small press. Or perhaps you could try to get a full-length book published that includes the novella along with a few extra stories to lengthen the book.
Going from 30k to 3k is an extremely large amount to cut, although it's definitely worth it if it improves the story. But don't do it just so you can turn a novella into a story. Although perhaps you can have both a story version and a novella version and get them each published in different places. Such as the story going in an anthology and the novella going in its own book.
Thanks for clearing that up, Bradley. I guess I use all those terms interchangeably. Well, except for Novella.
The truth is the original story was written some time ago for a graphic novel. This year I'm writing it with the goal of making it a novella, so I'm adding an extra demension to the tale and really amping up the madness infecting my main character.
But yeah, I see your point. a 3k story and a 30k story novella are two different tales completely. It's more of what kind of tale I want to tell for this character, when it comes down to it.
I wanted to add that I was writing this as an exercise, with no intention of getting it published any time soon. It's, uh... it's kind of a NaNoWriMo thing and I don't plan to edit it when I'm finished. Not right away, at least. Maybe in the future? I needed a break from my current WIP, so I'm using November as an opportunity to take a breather.
But thanks for the advice!
Script writing for comics and prose writing are a lot different as well. Before I wrote books, I wanted to break into the comic industry, but I wasn't exactly succesful. There were a couple of years when all I wrote were scripts and I have a lot of old ones on my hard drive.
Cool idea Alien... Just looked up some pretty disturbing mental illnesses. Found one I had never heard of. Pretty friggin interesting. May have to write something about this.
The voices in my head have encouraged me to give it a shot.
@Alien: Check out Cotard syndrome. Fucking weird shit. I'm trying to form a story from this. Very interesting stuff.
i have some free time coming up, i'll see if i cant get you something.
@Alien... I'm digging this idea. Paid or not, this is definitely a way to get our names out there, and if you can get Clevenger's name to go with this... Shit, the possibilities are endless. You have a deadline in mind? Will you be submitting on here for critiques? I'd like to work with you on this project, if you want an extra hand. I've got more free time now that I'm single. This would not only get my foot in the door, but keep my mind occupied.
Cool... I will check this out and Jan.15th sounds good. Any other help you need, let me know. I'm all in.
I want to try and do this! I have an idea in my head that could work. Don't count on me being a definite to add, but I'll do my best to try! This is a fantastic idea. I'm not subbed to this website so if you don't mind that then I'm excited to try this.
So is this how I sign up?
I'm in. This sounds fantastic! Payment be damned!
How does one sign up? :3
If we write a story for this and put it in the writer's workshop, would you like to include in the synopsis that the piece is written for this project so that people have specific feedback to go by?
I'm looking at trying to write a piece about Agateophobia, Dementophobia, and Maniaphobia. The fear of going insane.
I've got a nice little schizophrenia story coming along. Pretty vanilla choice, but I'm excited with how its proceeding.
Sounds great Alien! I love this idea! It sounds like a lot of fun.
Is pica or autophagic schiztophrenia taken?
Pica is still open. I think.
Not sure if the choices are exclusive, but going the same way as someone else would obviously put the two of you in a head to head situation.
I mean, if you want to try scizophrenia, I'm game to try to outdo you.
Bring it on :P alternatively, we can do a co-op (ie, both write different voices) or even do different parts of schizophrenia?
Shit, I tried to write my story today and ended up with a different story. I wrote the wrong one, somehow.
@Bryan: I like your idea. The fear of going insane. That shit rocks! Nice choice.
I've decided to go with Cotard Syndrome. No one take it. It's mine...
@Typewriter: Is pica when the person eats weird stuff? Like toilet paper?
@Alien: If you got Chuck involved... I'm not sure what I'd do. Shit a brick? Naw, probably shit a cinder block. And please, keep us updated on what Craig says. Man, the buzz on this is inspiring. Great, great idea!
yep, pica is eating weird shit. I...I might actually write something else, but similar to schiztophrenia
Q: Is this too funny for the conditions?
Strange, it's been an obsession of mine to know what a human brain feels like. When someone dies KIL LHARRY they become a cadaver. Basic, true, but it's important. Everything stops moving. Biological gridlock, even. It's the moment when the bomb goes off in the stadium. The time when Daddy's nine millimetre ends up in the cafeteria, pointing at the guy who gets all the girls. The moment of pure, tranquil beauty. RIP OU THIS TRACHE AHARRY The moment where fucking nine pills could drop, and each one would be louder than a USELESS plane taking YOU'RE FUCKING USELESS off. And now, c'est l'heure, as they say. This guy's head, it's like candied yam inside. All mush and no neurons. Begs the question, what did he do with it when he was alive, since it's so fucked up now? Hannibal Lecter could drink this in a slushie.
I would space it differently. Formatting is crucial when you're writing craziness.
I am not opposed in principle to the idea of a collaboration, but with "Conversation at a Hanging" I was going to make it kind of a deeply personal and nuanced story about managing the disease, I mean, I've written straight crazy schizophrenia before, I just wanted to take the subject seriously in and of itself, and cut out any external characters so that I could rely on specific voices to provide a contrast and to illustrate the struggles of the protagonist without ever leaving a single room and with limited motion, but lots of yelling at the voices and begging and cajoling. I don't know how well that would work with the sort of scizophrenia you are going for.
@RMoon, is it called Cotard? I have it every time I eat space cake. I always experience those very long 5 to 8 minutes when I think I'm dying - then, when I'm dead, it all ends and there's a whole different level of consciousness, not the afterlife.
@Typewriter, your bit of story is kinda scary. It reminds me of hardcore skizos that you can hear answering to the voices. It might work, as a possible style.
I am lately researching demonic possession for personal purposes - hehehe - does it apply as a form of mental condition? That, or also synesthesia. It blows my mind, synesthesia..
@nk, I can make it an awful lot lighter. PM me, and we can chat about this tomorrow. Now, I need to sleep.
I'm not talking lighter, I'm talking about writing about a suicide attempt. Or a hostage negotiation. Possibly an attempted murder. I mean, it all depends on how you see it. But usually one person trying to kill himself is considered a suicide attempt no matter how many personalities get involved.
When I first read this post, my first thought was "Cotard's Syndrome!" But Moon is way ahead of me. Still, I'm interested.
@Flaminia: Yes, Cotards syndrome. I've read a lot about demonic possession. Of course, The Exorcist is probably the best fictional account, but check out Possessed by Thomas Allen. It's the true story The Exorcist was based on. It'll scare the shit out of you.
@Nighty Nite: Sorry. Found it the other day and piqued my interest.
@Typewriter: That's one of the most disturbing things I've ever read. Very nice.
I'm pretty sure I'm in with this. Little hesitant, but going to take the plunge. Self-mutilation......it's ALL MINE!
yeah, do any of you know what a yandere is? I'm not sure what mental disorder it's linked to, but it's definitly awesome. Yandere is pretty much "I love you so much, I'm going to kill all your friends, since they are threats to our romance" In other words, literally crazy in love.
@aliensoul77 uhh thanks, I'll improve it.
@nk, you still up for a collab?
I'm trying to figure out the exact term for what people call "single white female" syndrome. You know, when someone becomes so obsessed with becoming another person they are willing to kill them and try to replace them.
Lol Alien, does it really exist? Yes, I know enough people who want to be me (they can't figure, poor little beasts), but is it a real syndrome? Applying to white, single women, specifically? That's terrible, thanks God I've got a whole collection of disorders and not this one.
@RMoon, thanks for the tip. I'm definitely checking Allen's book - wanna get scared shitless, and spread the fear..
Awesome project, I'm def excited.
Schizophrenia:
I hope that I will continue to be able to defend a claim on schizophrenia.
I'm having a short story getting published in an anthology coming out soon. I won't mention the title, due to the contract that I signed. Complicated contract stuff.
I'm wondering if all these non-paying open submissions are worth it. Do they have any higher merit than vanity presses or self-publishing?
I will probably submit something to your anthology. But only if you have a website for it or even a blog.
Good luck to you on this project, I can only hope to make the cut.
Will the writer's get free copies? :D